I have knit 2 scarves for the mom of one of my daughter's friends. I have NO idea what to charge the mom for the knitting. She bought the yarn so there is no charge required there. I didn't do anything fancy- one scarf in basket weave, one with a drop-stitch pattern. I'm also going to do 2 simple hats for her. I've never sold knitting so I have no idea where to start! Any ideas? Thanks! :)

Jan in CA

07-30-2009, 03:29 PM

Well, if you figure your time it may end up being too much. That's the problem when figuring out what to charge. Personally I probably wouldn't charge much..maybe $10 or $15 each. If she balks I'd not knit for her again probably.

sandy57th

07-30-2009, 03:34 PM

3 million dollars. Whenever you knit for someone, they have no idea how much time and effort it takes, and if you have to frog back a great deal of it for whatever reason and do it again, not to mention the time it takes to do a gauge swatch (although you said they're scarves), and if the skein has tangles in it you have to un-knot it, and if you lose one needle you have to search your whole house for it . . . Yup, 3 million dollars would be about right.

blueygh2

07-30-2009, 04:51 PM

It's true, it really takes a lot of time and effort.
And I don't think those are measurable by money.

I just give away my knitted items, never charge for anything, though I may if someone requests a specific item.

TrikkeAddict

07-30-2009, 05:16 PM

3 million dollars. Whenever you knit for someone, they have no idea how much time and effort it takes, and if you have to frog back a great deal of it for whatever reason and do it again, not to mention the time it takes to do a gauge swatch (although you said they're scarves), and if the skein has tangles in it you have to un-knot it, and if you lose one needle you have to search your whole house for it . . . Yup, 3 million dollars would be about right.

ROFL

Mommy22alyns

07-30-2009, 06:29 PM

My knitting instructor charges 1/2 cent per stitch. It certainly doesn't come out cheap, but it's a fair-ish rule of thumb. And it makes you calculate how many stitches are in a project. :passedout: You'll shock yourself.

mwhite

07-30-2009, 07:25 PM

3 million dollars. Whenever you knit for someone, they have no idea how much time and effort it takes, and if you have to frog back a great deal of it for whatever reason and do it again, not to mention the time it takes to do a gauge swatch (although you said they're scarves), and if the skein has tangles in it you have to un-knot it, and if you lose one needle you have to search your whole house for it . . . Yup, 3 million dollars would be about right.

LOL! Wouldn't have to do that but once or twice! :teehee:

Honestly, depends on the length/width of the scarves, what Jan says is about right...if larger/longer maybe $20, hats, definitely around $10 to $15. Hand fashioned is more personal.

cftwo

07-31-2009, 07:53 AM

I've sold 2 things: dischclothes (I charged twice the cost of the yarn) and a shawl (I charged about 5 times the cost of the yarn - it was a much bigger piece). In both cases I bought the yarn for myself, the yarn was not expensive, and I considered that some of the payment for doing the projects was the need not to pay for therapy. I'd probably charge $10-$15 for a simple scarf.

LizzieK8

07-31-2009, 08:26 AM

Age old argument, when one doesn't charge for one's time and skill (even if you're a beginner, you obviously have a skill the buyer doesn't have or would rather pay someone else to do) one undermines oneself and other knitters. The attitude that it's a "hobby" or "I enjoy it" keeps fiber arts a hobby, not a skill and in the realm of something little old ladies do to keep busy because idle hands are the devil's workshop.:oo:

Then again, if you charge for you time, no one will buy the items. :verysad:

When people ask me how much I'd charge to make them a pair of socks, I say, "They start at $350 plus materials." Of course I don't get any takers, but I explain that I value my time and skill just like a plumber or mechanic, or roofer, or a lawyer or doctor. :thumbsup:

Rule of thumb, settle the price before making the items. It's always less expensive for the person to go to K-Mart and get a commercially knitted scarf than to pay someone what it's worth to make them.
:knitting::knitting::knitting:

Abbily

07-31-2009, 09:11 AM

Lots of good advice, thanks! :)

I like the 3 mil, that sounds about right! :)

I have never 'sold' knitting before, usually I only knit for family or close friends. This woman is the mom of my daughter's friend, and she bought this yarn in New Zealand when she was pg with her (now 7 yo) daughter. She intended to crochet a blanket for the baby, but never got around to it. She really wanted something made out of it that her daughter could use, and settled on 2 scarves and 2 hats so that she and her daughter could have a matching set. Thanks for all the help! I think I'll probably ask for $50 for the set.

melmac51

07-31-2009, 10:20 AM

3 million dollars. Whenever you knit for someone, they have no idea how much time and effort it takes, and if you have to frog back a great deal of it for whatever reason and do it again, not to mention the time it takes to do a gauge swatch (although you said they're scarves), and if the skein has tangles in it you have to un-knot it, and if you lose one needle you have to search your whole house for it . . . Yup, 3 million dollars would be about right.

:roflhard: :roflhard: :roflhard:

Fiddler2

08-04-2009, 05:40 PM

My advice is that no matter what you charge, and you should either charge or barter, that you tag the finished product with how long it took to make it.

ArtLady1981

08-05-2009, 12:59 PM

My knitting instructor charges 1/2 cent per stitch. It certainly doesn't come out cheap, but it's a fair-ish rule of thumb. And it makes you calculate how many stitches are in a project. :passedout: You'll shock yourself.

Oh I like that idea! :cheering: 1/2 cent per stitch! :thumbsup:

Now I just gotta do some math, don't I! This will bug me to now end if I don't figure out how much I would charge for knitting SYLVI for someone who asked the Sylvi group over Rav! (NO ONE accepted. I stated IF I knit for money, I'd charge $600 for the labor. I'll bet I wouldn't even get 1/2 cent per stitch at that price!)

But oh my...then I will have to face exactly how many stitches my ole hands have knit! Ack! :eyes:

ArtLady1981

08-07-2009, 07:42 PM

It's been buggin' me and buggin' me! I just had to know...how many stitches in an average cardigan (worsted weight yarn, size M, cropped-to-med length).

The recent LARA cardigan that I knit for my DD...I figured that it was at least 32,000 stitches, maybe 200-300 more. But, based on the 32,000 stitch count @ 1/2 cent per stitch...would total $160 labor.

Figure in the 14 skeins (1,008 yds) of yarn @ $7 each = $98 for yarn

TOTAL COST, yarn and labor: $258

I couldn't see the average person paying that amount.
I couldn't see the average person even wanting to pay for the yarn, however, a less expensive yarn would bring the cost of yarn down.

I knit my first LARA for Lauralee using Red Heart SOFT. She loves it, too, and still wears it around all the time. She said it's her 'throw on to go anywhere' sweater. It pills a lot, being 'SOFT', but she keeps them clipped and trimmed.

If I were going to knit this cardigan for someone, I would charge $200 labor minimum, to allow for the blocking, seaming and final polishing.

So there's the rub. You can't make a living BY KNITTING for others. You can only make money BY DESIGNING, and PUBLISHING your designs.

So every time I fall in mad love with a pattern that is only available as a PDF download for $1.29-$5.50......I am happy to pay it. I never "jones" around trying to get someone to give it to me for free. The designer deserves her monetary compensation. If I can't afford it at the time...I visit the online free patterns indexes.

And you couldn't pay me to design either. No desire to do anything but knit knit knit out of love for knitting and those who get my knits! :heart:

sideways

08-07-2009, 10:10 PM

I won't even attempt to sell hand knitted items. I've learned thru my sewing that most people do not understand the individual hand labor that goes into it.

We are competing against mass produced, machine made stuff in foreign countries where the standard of living & costs of doing business are much lower. I refuse to sell my abilities for less than they are worth. If people are only willing to pay mass-produced prices, then they can go buy mass-produced garbage from department stores. Or learn to do it, like I did.

Yes, I'm very snarky when it comes to this subject! :)

psquidy

08-09-2009, 07:41 AM

YOu can be sure of one thing when you sell knitting-you won't get nearly what it's worth.

Lisa R.

08-09-2009, 08:42 AM

You know, this is such a tricky thing. Obviously, our time is worth a reasonable amount...but even a minimum wage for our time is going to put the price out of most people's range.

I *love* hand-knitted socks, for instance, and love to knit my own. I am on a tight budget and would certainly have trouble justifying spending $20 for a pair of socks in general--but I do buy yarn that costs that, because I throw in the enjoyment of the knitting as my "hobby" or "entertainment" budget, not just my sock budget.

If I were a non-knitter, there's no way I'd pay $20 for socks! (You can buy 'em for a dollar at Wal-mart, after all!:teehee: ) If you figure even 10 hours for a simple pair of socks, you'd have to charge $100 for minimal compensation.

So, IMHO, each knitter has to decide if it's a labor of love--either love of the recipient or or love of knitting. But a love of money or a love of "fair compensation" will not do much for the average person.

If someone wanted me to knit for pay, I'd have to decide if I wanted to enjoy the process or not. If not, I'd say 'no.' If I felt I could be satisfied with charging 2-3 times the price of the yarn for the project, and would enjoy doing it without bitterness for the unfairness of it all, I'd go for it.

Crycket

08-09-2009, 09:53 AM

My knitting instructor charges 1/2 cent per stitch. It certainly doesn't come out cheap, but it's a fair-ish rule of thumb. And it makes you calculate how many stitches are in a project. :passedout: You'll shock yourself.